*Chuck Norris commenting on those who steal baby Jesus' from Nativity scenes. Yes, it is that Chuck Norris.*

Back here in the state of Texas, when the Jesus statuette was heisted from the nativity of the Herrera family of North Richland Hills, Gloria Herrera, 48, a Catholic, passionately conveyed what we are all wondering, "They took the family Jesus. How can anybody do that?" What type of world do we live in when hoodlums (young and old) commit sacrilege for entertainment?

These religious heists beg the question: Is stealing baby Jesus figurines harmless juvenile fun or intentional hate crimes? Whatever the answer to each, there's absolutely nothing funny about vandalism. Skeptics might mock these defacements as negligible crimes, but stealing the soul of nativities is one more dismal sign of a culture gone awry. Religious Grinches who steal these symbolic Christs are pathetic piles of yuletide trash.

That's the part about this quote that makes me the maddest. It isn't a hate crime, its just theft. Get over your persecution complexes. Your kind ignore real international hate crimes, like what your precious Israel is doing to the Palestinians right now, or what Iran does to the Ba'hais, or the slaughter in the Congo. All this is much more important than your stupid Jesus statue getting stolen when you can just waltz down to the local Wal-mart in your gas-guzzling SUV and buy a new one. Report the theft to the police and GET THE FUCK OVER IT!

Much as I dislike it, I'll have to not only proclaim this entry non-fundie, but actually agree with the source of what's arguably the sorriest meme on the Internet.

Unlike Carlos here, it doesn't matter to me that a Nativity scene is inherently Christian. Still, theft and/or vandalism is hardly an honorable way to show one's dislike of Christianity. Placing a Nativity scene on government land is one thing, but this happened on private property. "Bah Humbug!" to the thief, whomever s/he is.

That having been said, #879776 is also correct. A hate crime necessarily entails violence and/or the clear and present threat of violence. This was theft, nothing more.

On the night before Christmas eve, I was driving around with a few friends and we were just dicking around. My one friend noticed a car with its trunk slightly open, so we stopped the car and said friend went over to the other car and looked in the trunk. He found a can of beer and took it, then we drove off. A few minutes later, we stopped and he got out of the car and walked up to the huge nativity scene in front of the town church. He tried to put the beer in the hands of one of the wise men statues, but it wouldn't fit so instead he just placed it in the manger with Jesus. As we were waiting, a guy in a car pulled up to the intersection, so we got the fuck out of there. This asshole was following us, so my boyfriend turned off the lights of his car and took a few turns until we lost the douchebag. Hate crime? I think not. Vandalism? Hardly. Hilarious and entertaining? Yes. The best part is that the next morning, the beer was gone.

"What type of world do we live in when hoodlums (young and old) commit sacrilege for entertainment?"

A better question would be what kind of world do we live in when one country can kidnap people from another country and imprison them without charges trial or access to a lawyer. Put your theft of a cheap piece of plastic in that context dumbass.